How I Won The Yellow Jumper: Dispatches From The Tour De France (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I have recently become a fan of professional cycling. Despite the allegations of doping and corruption cycling is still a fantastic sport enjoyed by millions across the globe. Arguably the biggest event in the pro cycling calender is the Tour de France. Ned Boulting has written this book chronicling his experiences covering the tour for ITV over several years. In it he writes about the difficulty of following the tour for weeks on end, staying in bad hotels, struggling to find clean clothes to wear not to mention dealing with professional cyclists who may not be fans of journalists!Overall the book was a big disapointment for me. To begin with I was lead to believe the book is funny. In nearly 400 pages I think I chuckled lightly once. The subject matter should be very dramatic and exciting to read about but Boulting largely manages to make it drab and boring. He writes pages about the mundane and unimportant and skips briefly over anything interesting. He writes about several controversial figures in pro cycling (including the most controversial of all: Lance Armstrong) but never dishes any dirt or even says what he really thinks about them. He dances around issues he writes about, stubbornly ignoring the elephant in the room and is relentlessly diplomatic and polite. As I mentioned before: Boring.I complained about the book to my wife who attempted to defend Boultings diplomacy by saying the book was scrutinised by lawyers before it was published but the way I see it is that if Boulting couldn't write the book he wanted and had more he wanted to say he shouldn't have written it at all and if it IS the book he wanted I just didn't like it. I absolutely loved this book!Grew up watching the Tour de France with my Dad, and have seen virtually every stage televised in the 80s, 90s, 00s and 10's to date. Throughout this time the commentary team of Phil Ligget, Paul Sherwen, Gary Imlach and more recently Chris Boardman and Ned Boulting have been my travelling companions as I've learnt how this gruelling sport works. I've watched heady days of dramatic climbs, ongoing duels between champions and of course the gloom of drugs cheats envelop the Tour. Most excitingly, I've watched as British Cycling has emerged from the occasional glimmer of hope to being Green and Yellow Jersey winners! Heady days indeed.Boulting's book is a wonderful behind the scenes read. His style is conversational, witty and easy going. He covers the big topics and the small idiosyncrases of life following the Tour with humour and personal insight. This isn't a book about the racing - if you want to learn about how the race works, the tactics and regulations, this isn't the book for you - but let's face it, the Tour is so much more than just the race but is a movement, a lifstyle, an annual pilgrimage even. This is a book of the life around the Tour and the challenges of presenting it.I would certainly recommend this book to all sports fans and anyone interested in the world of road racing. Look out for the edition that includes the update 'How Cav Won the Green Jersey'. I wonder if there will be an update to include the unprecedented British Tour win by Bradley Wiggins?
What do You think about How I Won The Yellow Jumper: Dispatches From The Tour De France (2011)?
Light hearted look at Ned's work covering the Tour de France. One for fans of ITV 4s coverage.
—madi
Enjoyed it but found myself skim reading some of the non-cycling related parts.
—Beverly
Good for the insider's view of the backside of the Tour. Light and enjoyable.
—sjb2003
Casual easy read, some good light hearted stories and information
—Izzy
Mildly diverting but in the end a poor man's French Revolutions.
—baby
